Thursday, November 29, 2012

Went back to Taipei Gourmet in Lexington for lunch hoping to try something new from the menu. I had seen the Fried Chicken Leg over Rice in the Taiwanese Noodles Rice section of the menu and while it didn't sound very exciting I decided to try it.

While waiting I got a complimentary bowl of Hot and Sour Soup and I thought that was nice. Not the most exciting H&S Soup but there was some shitake mushrooms in there and overall the soup was nice.

This is what arrived! Didn't know what to expect when ordering the Fried Chicken Leg over Rice. I did expect a chicken leg still on the bone, but it was boneless, the owner told me that Americans don't like anything on the bone, it had a very light coating and was very nice and moist and a bit crunchy. I also got a pickled daikon slice, pickled cabbage, roast pork, a marinated egg and some Bok Choy.

I had to take another picture to show how the cooking liquid from the pork has soaked into the rice making it doubly delicious. Overall this was a really really nice lunch!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Went to Scugnizzi in Arlington again for some more Pizza and again armed with a Groupon. They are not doing too much business at lunch, a few customers that's all.

Ricottaro pizza, White with Provolone, Ricotta and Spicy Sausage. If I hadn't added extra bacon this would be a very sorry looking pizza! As it is, there is still just one small piece of sausage on each slice. To top it off, the crust had a funny consistency, almost like the oven wasn't hot enough. Previously the pizzas here have been good. I also had a waiter that hadn't passed waiter 101 yet. Overall, a very disappointing lunch but I guess you can't win them all.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

I haven't been back to Little Q Hot Pot in Arlington for a while and on this almost snowing day I thought it was an appropriate choice. They also raised the lunch prices by $2 so the $7.95 lunch is now $9.95 and that pushes it up into the expensive range for lunch.

They have a cute little logo of a ram on all their tableware. Nice touch!

Pickled cabbage and boiled peanuts give you something to snack on. The pickled cabbage has gotten a little bit spicier since my last visit but is still fairly mild.

Shandong Noodles, Prime Pork and a Veggie Basket are included in the lunch combo. You get Bok Choy, Corn, Mushroom, Tofu, Watercress and Spinach for your cooking pleasure.

Finally the BROTH! This is the Mala broth and while it's spicy enough it sadly lacks half of its name since it's missing the Sichuan Peppercorns that makes up the numbing part of the name. It's still very good especially at the end of the meal when it has reduced down by half. If you ask, you can get the leftover broth to go.

It's a nice place, a bit Spartan in the decor but pleasant enough. There are more tables around the corner towards the kitchen. No waitress today, the owner was working so I hope they are doing OK. This is a slow week so hopefully that's the reason.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Stopped by for their Fiesta Brunch to give it another chance, hopefully, they will have someone in the kitchen that can actually poach an egg! I had bad luck with that before and I'm really surprised that a restaurant of this caliber has cooks that can't even poach an egg.

The interior is very nice, high tops in the bar area near the big windows make it a very well lighted place and look at that nice copper-clad bar.

The two course Fiesta Brunch starts with fresh fruit nicely presented with a light dusting of confectioners sugar.

I can happily report that the poached eggs were almost perfect! The homefries, on the other hand, was a bit overcooked and dry. Not a bad meal in a very nice restaurant and it set me back a whopping $7.95 before tax and tip and that includes linen napkin and coffee.

Friday, November 23, 2012

What's better than, after having stuffed yourself silly yesterday with Turkey and all the trimmings, to stuff yourself silly again with some Indian food from the lunch buffet at The Mughals in Burlington? I also didn't look forward to be sharing the road with the rest of the "Boston Drivers" so The Mughals are handy since they are nearby.

Monday, November 19, 2012

This is my go to restaurant for my Monday's Indian Lunch and I have been alternating between this one and the new one down the street but Punjab is clearly the winner. It's also nice to eat in a restaurant that has customers! Today I think there was a Strollers Anonymous meeting here since Mom's with Strollers kept pouring in.

A nice window table on a sunny day. Lentil Soup is included in the lunch specials, nothing outstanding but nice, the condiment containers are spotless, never really thought about that before I noticed that they were not at the other place.

Chicken Saagwala is a favorite, tender juicy chicken in a buttery spinach sauce. You also get plenty of aromatic basmati rice. This is really hard to beat for $7.95 and the service is excellent too.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Just wanted something light for lunch today so I stopped by Tenoch in Medford thinking maybe a Tostada again but..

They had Tacos de Cuerito on the menu and this was something I had never tried. They were described as thinly sliced pork skin and I imagined something crispy but this is what I got, strips of soft boiled pork skin. Hard to describe the taste, little bit salty and there was other spices involved as well and it turned out to be pretty tasty. $2 gets you a big container of Guacamole.

Friday, November 16, 2012

The completely misnamed Chicken in Chili Sauce fits the bill with dry roasted chilis, jalapeno chunks and Sichuan Peppercorns. This is the Lunch plate special so you get aneggroll, some tempura fried veggies and a smallish salad.

This is how it looked at 12:30ish, as usual there is a line out the door and the line was still there when I left.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Stopped by The Mughals in Burlington for some takeout lunch today. I'm impressed that there are always new things on the menu to try. Here's today's loot!

Bottom left is Chicken Pepper Fry, very nice and despite its name, not overly spicy. Nestled in there is the Aloo Tikki, literally "potato croquet", really nice and spicy! Daal Makhani in the container was really nice spiced. Above are the Eggplant Bhajji, thin slices of eggplant, battered and the deep fried. Excellent! Mughlai Chicken Biryan and Bhindi Masala (okra) was good as usual. Garlic Naan and some Tandoori chicken completes the meal.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Went to Taipei Gourmet in Lexington for lunch today. Not too many customers at lunchtime. It's sad, such a nice sunny room and nice people running it. On the other hand, it's a pain to get here from anywhere except Lexington or Arlington and it's even a stretch from Arlington.

I ordered Pork with Pickled Cabbage Noodle Soup, this was nice, thick chewy noodles and there was some sliced shiitake mushrooms in there with the pork as well. Very light broth.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Mr. Chan's Asian Bistro in Burlington has been open for a while now and I decided to give it another try for lunch.

It's really a pretty place with the waterfall and not very big, what you see here is almost all of it.

Pork Chop Rice Plate come with a good amount of deep fried Salt and Pepper Pork Chops. Underneath the pile is some Chinese Broccoli with some thinly sliced jalapenos. This was a competent rendering of a standard dish, not bad for $7.95. That the waitress asked if I wanted rice with my order is another story.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Take out again from The Mughals in Burlington. Nothing really exciting today but still a very nice lunch.

Today we have Garlic Naan, below is Kadai Chicken. Chili Potatoes, Malai Kofta, Green Moong Daal (very good) and some Chicken Tikka Masala. I usually stay away from the Chicken Tikka Masala since it tends to be a bit dry and this was no exception. Obligatory Tandoori Chicken on top.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

I used to eat lunch at Golden Ginger in Wilmington fairly frequently until Top Garden opened up in Tewksbury but haven't been back in close to 2 years so it was nice when the hostess said "Peter, nice to see you back!". Looks the same, same manager, lunch menu somewhat reduced but still fairly cheap. This is a place that does really good mediocre American-Chinese food. What they do, they do well and they are consistent. I haven't tried their sushi, they have a nice sushi bar, but I haven't heard anything bad about it either.

Yes, you get the fried whatever with the cloying sweet duck sauce. The Hot and Sour Soup was surprisingly spicy but apart from that there was nothing remarkable to be said.

Spicy Curried Chicken with Chicken Wing Apps. Chicken wings were done well, really crispy skin and juicy. They have finally stopped over frying the drumette. The curried chicken is the normal yellow Chinese curry and this was actually a bit spicy. Get's a nice crunch from the water chestnut pieces sprinkled in and the peas add a bit of color. This for some reason is comfort food for me. Service was as usual very good, but they weren't really that busy, the sushi bar had a few chairs going.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Stopped by Cafe Luigi in Bedford today for an old lunch favorite of mine. Made sure I got there early, at 12:15 there was a line waiting for a table.

You get some nice Italian Bread and butter, it used to be real butter but now you get the whipped something.

Calamari and Linguine, very simple but nicely done even if the Calamari was on the verge of being overcooked, never happened before. The pasta needed more salt, but I guess you have to put up with that in these healthy times.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

While there is nothing wrong with their Billerica location, apart from Rte 3A that I hate with a vengeance, and that it's such a small and busy place that I almost feel bad for being single at a two top, their Framingham location is so different.

Nice bright interior nicely decorated, big windows. 20 minutes later most of the tables were busy.

As in Billerica, their Hot and Sour Soup is excellent. Kind of a smallish amount of pickled veggies..

Smokey Hot Shredded Chicken with Cayenne was excellent and here you also have a choice of app, either a spring roll or Crab Rangoon's. Sadly the Spring Roll was left uneaten so that I could finish the delicious chicken. Hot Hot but so delicious!